6 volumes, 8vo, FIRST BRITISH EDITIONS, volume one the Baylis printing (signed with numbers throughout), the rest first printings, CHARLES CARLYLE WOOD'S COPIES, manuscript revisions, deletions and corrections in blue, green, red and black ink and pencil in several hands to c.100 pages (mostly in volume one), VOLUME 3 A PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY CHURCHILL ("For | C.C. Wood | from | Winston S. Churchill | (Not to be read by you) | 1950) on half-title, with a typed copy of letter from Wood to Churchill dated 3.10.50 loosely inserted ("Thank you very much indeed for the inscribed copy of Volume III. I shall treasure it..."), half-titles, author's note and errata slips in volume one, charts, tables and maps (some folding), original black cloth, lettered in gilt on spine, top edges red, patterned endpapers, dust-jackets, jackets of volumes 1, 2 and 4 inscribed along top edge of upper panel (with date of receipt [?] or "marked copy"), some light spotting throughout, vol 5 split at hinge between preliminary blank and half-title, some minor soiling to boards, top edges of vols 1-4 faded, dust-jackets worn at extremities, dust-jacket to vol 1 with tear at lower corner of upper panel

Cohen A240.4(I).b, A240.4(II).a, A240.4(III).a, A240.4(IV).a, A240.4(V).a, A240.4(VI).a; Woods A123(b)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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CHURCHILL'S PROOF READER'S COPIES, ANNOTATED WITH NUMEROUS CORRECTIONS AND AMENDMENTS. The first volume of Churchill's monumental series on World War II, The Gathering Storm, is best described as "a production nightmare" (Woods). Although he supplied both Cassell and the US publishers Houghton Mifflin with a supposedly "Final Text" in January 1948, Churchill's emendations and revisions continued to flow in until and even after the publication of the US edition in June 1948, The British edition in appeared in October, incorporating many changes which had missed the American printing. 

It was as result of this confusion that Charles Carlyle Wood was engaged to assist with the later volumes and revised editions. Wood was a retired proof reader with "a ruthless eye for misprints and inconsistencies" (David Reynolds, In Command of History (2004), p.149) who had worked on Churchill's Marlborough in the 1930s, and soon the assiduous efforts of hꦅis green pen became known within Churchill's literary entourage as "woodin🦋g". 

Wood began work on the published edition of The Gathering Storm early in 1949, and many of his suggested corrections - which include corrections of facts, changes to wordings and the movement of the folding map - were incorporated into the later editions. Whilst Wood writes in a blue, black, or green ink, another hand, using red ink♎, has subsequently accepted, amended or deleted these notes. IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT THESE ARE IN THE HAND OF CHURCHILL HIMSELF. One such example in the first chapter is initialled "WSC".

A few other hands are also are occasionally seen, including one occasionally adding rather censorious comments questioning Churchill's accuracy. On a preliminary blank or the half-title of each book, Wood meticulously recorded his treatment of the volume. From these notes, it is clear that the first four were his working copies, the troublesome first volume having by far the most correction🌜s. The third and fourth volume both are marked as "Examined. No corrections marked herein", although Wood later revisited the fourth volume in September 1956, adding corrections at pp.667-669. Clearly he suffered from the same compulsion as the author to continually revisit the writing. The final two volumes are noted as "Lent from No. 28 12.9.56", and have no further manuscript content.